Melissa Whitworth has lived and worked in the Big Apple since 2001, where she's interviewed many leading personalities and written about all aspects of New York life and culture.

Matin Maulawizada and Afghan Hands

New York-based makeup artist Matin Maulawizada created an organisation called Afghan Hands in 2004. Matin now splits his time between the Big Apple and his hometown of Kabul, where he is helping the country's war widows build back their lives. Afghan Hands pays around 200 women in centres in and around Kabul to embroider scarves – which you can buy from the AH website – and provides them with an income and independence from their families. A widow in many parts of Afghanistan is the "property" of her in-laws if her husband dies - her children are also. Under the Taliban, women were treated as chattel, and not allowed access to an education as this research by NOW, the National Organisation for Women explains.

The women are paid to attend classes in the morning and work in the afternoons, Matin (who grew up with six sisters) says. “The centres are places to gather, study, and work. Without this project, they could not educate themselves. Through Afghan Hands, they leave the walls of their compounds and attend seminars on basic human, legal, and religious rights. They prepare for work as free women do elsewhere in the world.

"It is heartbreaking to see the faces of women when they first come to us. You see scars of great trauma and long-time abuse. Many have lost all hope. But as they see that they can learn, that they have a chance for a better life, and that they can create objects of great beauty, they begin to smile and then to laugh."

Angelina Jolie (along with many other celebs) supports the organisation by regularly wearing the beautiful scarves, seen below.

In June, Afghan Hands was chosen as a finalist for the BBC World Challenge. The voting is taking place now before a winner is announced on the 5th December.